All Jessops stores are to close

Failed camera chain Jessops, which has a branch in Bury St Edmunds, was to close all of its stores at the end of trading today, it was announced earlier.

Administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) was appointed on Wednesday to deal with the struggling high street retailer,

At the time, Rob Hunt, joint administrator and partner at PwC, said: “Our most pressing task is to review the company’s financial position and hold discussions with its principal stakeholders to see if the business can be preserved.”

But, today, Jessops became the first major retail casualty of the New Year with PwC announcing that all its 187 stores would cease trading, with the loss of 1,370 jobs nationwide.

Today, Mr Hunt said: “Since my appointment, we have reviewed the position of the business and held extensive discussions with suppliers around their support for ongoing trading.

“It is apparent that we cannot continue to trade and as a result we have had to make the difficult decision to begin the closure of all 187 Jessops stores at the close of business today.

“Regrettably, this will result in around 1,370 job losses across the stores, with further job losses likely, in due course, at the head office in Leicester.

“The stock will be collected over the coming days and returned to a central warehouse. It will be returned to suppliers if they are entitled to it. As a consequence of the closure, Jessops is no longer able to accept returned product from customers.

“This is an extremely sad day for Jessops and its employees. We are very grateful for the support we have received since our appointment and we will continue to ensure that employees are paid as they assist us during the closure.”

Jessops did have 192 stores but five of them were closed after Christmas, before PwC was appointed.